Konoha, Root base.
Danzo looked at the intel he got. He felt that something was off and asked the Root Shinobi that was kneeling before him, "are you certain this is the information from Kusagakure?"
Root Shinobi lowered his head and said, "This is indeed the intel from our men in Kusagakure. It was, without a doubt, a real one."
Danzo was stunned for a moment and cursed, "Is Kusagakure Kage a fool? That fool would rather pay compensation?"
It has been a while since Danzo was left speechless.
Could it be that Kusagakure was worried about having too much money?
Danzo was speechless. Orochimaru, who was watching from the side, said in a hoarse voice.
"Danzo, it seems that there is something wrong with your plan."
Danzo looked at Orochimaru annoyedly and said, "I did all this to make you a Hokage, yet you are gloating over my misfortune."
Orochimaru sneered but did not say anything.
Did Danzo think that he was a three-year-old child? There was no such thing as friendship between the two of them. Their relationship was purely based on benefits.
Danzo supported him to become the Hokage, and Orochimaru would help Danzo with whatever he needed, such as expanding Root and increasing Root's funds.
"It doesn't matter. As long as we can complete that research, the position of Hokage can be easily obtained." Orochimaru said emotionlessly.
Danzo remained calm on the surface and asked, "Have you made any new progress in your research?"
Orochimaru nodded and said, "That's right, but I'm short on experiment subjects. Can you get me more?"
Danzo frowned slightly. "It shouldn't be a problem if we're in the middle of a war, but we don't have that luxury now."
Orochimaru smiled and gave Danzo a meaningful look: "It may be a bit difficult, but I believe it's a simple matter for you."
Danzo snorted: "As long as our experiment is successful, Konoha will be restored to its former glory, and our name will go down in history."
He would prove that his teacher made the mistake of making Sarutobi Hiruzen the Third Hokage. He'd prove that he was the most suitable candidate.
Had it been Danzo who was chosen to be the Third Hokage, Konoha would have been much stronger than it was now. Konoha would not have to beg for peace after winning the war.
It has always been Danzo's duty to restore Konoha to its former glory.
...
...
In the evening, Kakashi ended the second day's investigation. Today, he managed to inquire about various information using Soru.
The result was somewhat different from the tavern. Those who trained diligently were more inclined to war than those in the tavern.
This made Kakashi feel a little cautious. This type of Kusagakure Shinobi seemed to increase, and it was a little dangerous. Then again, they posed little to no threat to the Five Great Shinobi Country.
In the past, there was also a small country that wanted to challenge the Five Great Shinobi Countries, which led to the Second Shinobi World War.
That country was Amegakure.
In order to expand their territory and get rid of their identity for being a small country, Amegakure directly declared war on the Land of Wind and Land of Fire when they thought that they had enough strength.
Although Amegakure had Hanzo, who had killed countless Shinobi on the battlefield, in terms of overall combat strength, Amegakure quickly fell to a disadvantage when facing the Land of Wind and Land of Fire's Shinobis. In the end, it led to the defeat of Amegakure.
Compared to Amegakure in the past, Kusagakure was nowhere close as they didn't have any Shinobi on Hanzo's level.
Even Amegakure failed, let alone Kusagakure.
But compared to other small villages, Kakashi felt that Kusagakure was a little dangerous.
On the way back, Kakashi just passed by the Kusagakure Hospital. Kakashi hesitated for a while before finally entering the hospital.
Kakashi justified himself going in as investigating the level of other villages' Medic-nin was also a task that Anbu should do.
Entering the hospital, Kakashi still pretended to be a patient like last time and went straight to the ward.
But this time, he did not see Uzumaki Hanabira. He just saw some random people treating the patients, which made Kakashi feel a little relieved.
Thinking about it, they were not in the middle of a war, so the probability of a Shinobi being injured would be greatly reduced.
After that, Kakashi began to stroll around the hospital.
When passing by an empty ward, Kakashi saw a red-haired figure. It was Uzumaki Hanabira wiping the floor.
As if sensing Kakashi's gaze, Uzumaki Hanabira looked back. Seeing that it was the Shinobi who had helped her in the morning, Uzumaki Hanabira quickly stood up and bowed to Kakashi, "Kakashi-sama."
Kakashi was stunned for a moment and then regretted mentioning his real name. If Midori Inuzuka knew, she would have laughed at him for more than a week.
Kakashi coughed twice, pretending that they met by coincidence, and asked, "So you're a janitor in the hospital? That must be hard. Be sure to take care of your body and have enough rest."
Uzumaki Hanabira smiled and said, "Well, as you see. Thank you for your concern."
For some reason, she didn't want to tell Kakashi about her real job in this hospital.
As a pure Uzumaki Clan, although she did not undergo any Shinobi training, she still had an excellent innate perception. She could feel Kakashi's goodwill towards her.
If he knew that she was doing such a miserable job, it might cause him unnecessary trouble.
Hearing Uzumaki Hanabira's answer, Kakashi fell into silence.
He did not know how to treat this member of the Uzumaki Clan. He also did not expect that Kusagakure would go this far.
While she wasn't treating the patients, she was actually forced to work as a janitor instead of being allowed to rest.
"Then I won't disturb your work," Kakashi said and prepared to leave. It was almost time for the rendezvous.
Hanabira nodded and then seemed to remember something. She smiled and said, "Sir, my name is Uzumaki Hanabira."
Kakashi nodded and said thoughtfully, "I will remember it."
After leaving the hospital, Kakashi returned to the inn. Since he, Ensui, and Midori Inuzuka stayed there, Nagasawa simply changed their rendezvous point to that place.
When everyone was there, Nagasawa took out a paper bag and said, "our mission has been completed. Inside this is the intel about the three Shinobis captured by Konoha, and even the dead one."